Not too far from U.S. Cellular field, you’ll find a 24-room mansion at Prairie Avenue and 28th Street. It’s a rare sight in its neighborhood of modest housing and vacant lots. But, it wasn’t always so out of place. During the late 1800s the Prairie Avenue district was home to many wealthy Chicagoans like Marshall Field. This particular brick and sandstone house survived the teardowns of the white-flight era and has had only two owners in its 125 years of existence. Richard Steele took a tour with Chicago magazine’s Dennis Rodkin. He says a lumber executive named George Ellery Wood had the house built for a special young woman in his life.

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